Planned Midtown Shelter Stalls Amid Neighborhood Pushback

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — A shelter that the city plans to open in a former Murray Hill hotel has been delayed for more than two months amid pushback by local elected officials and the building's owner.

In November, city officials told a community board that they intended to convert the historic Renwick Hotel on East 40th Street into a shelter serving 170 homeless families. The facility would open by Dec. 15, the officials said.

Months later, the shelter has failed to open as the state reviews the plans and the city contends with opposition that has ranged from procedural concerns to personal attacks.

Days before the shelter was set to open in December, Community Board 6 and two elected officials sent a letter to the Department of Homeless Services, saying the city had been late in providing a Fair Share Analysis — a study of how many other shelters already exist in the area — and complaining that neighbors had not been given other basic information.

"We urge your agency to exceed the bare minimum required for public notification," wrote the board, joined by Assemblymember Dan Quart and State Sen. Liz Krueger.

CB6, @LizKrueger, and @AMDanQuart have sent a letter to @NYCDHS regarding the Fair Share Analysis that they submitted to us about the forthcoming adult-family shelter at 118 East 40th Street. Read our letter below: pic.twitter.com/CyS1FfwCHw
— Manhattan Community Board Six (@cbsix) December 9, 2020

Meanwhile, opposition has come from other corners: an attorney claiming to represent the building's owner, Bedford-WCR LLC, wrote letters to the commumnity board and to Patch, claiming the shelter was a violation of the building's lease and would not be allowed to open.

"The Owners have leased the Renwick Hotel to a tenant under a 99-year lease and this lease requires that the hotel be operated as a first class hotel and does not permit use as a homeless shelter," the attorney wrote in the Nov. 23 letter.

Other pushback has been more sensational: a group calling itself Save Murray Hill sprang up to oppose the plans, claiming they were "destroying a community," and at least two community board members received anonymous letters personally targeting them for expressing openness to the shelter.

Oh wow - so much incorrect in this mass mailing to my neighborhood in here, although I guess I cannot complain they used a 20+ year old photo of me. Someone took all this time to create this, but couldn't bother fact checking it? pic.twitter.com/tn8ppllen7
— Carin van der Donk (@vanderDonkCarin) December 4, 2020

The city responded to the board's letter on Feb. 18, defending its Fair Share study but including no details about when the shelter would open.

On Monday, the community board wrote in an emailed update that the state's Shelter Oversight and Compliance division was reviewing the city's plans. Once the review is complete, the city will set a new timeline for the shelter's opening, according to the board.

The city's Department of Homeless Services and the attorney for the building's owner did not respond to requests for comment.

Related coverage:

• Midtown's Renwick Hotel To Be Converted Into Homeless Shelter
• Midtown Board Members Harassed Over Planned Hotel Shelter